Peyton Manning took a knee again, just as he had at the end of regulation exactly a year earlier. Only this time, he trotted off the field to cheers, high-fives and smiles.

Manning welcomed Wes Welker back into the lineup with a touchdown pass Sunday and the Denver Broncos narrowly avoided a repeat of their playoff slip from last year, advancing to the AFC Championship Game with a 24-17 win over the San Diego Chargers.

The Broncos (14-3) took a 17-0 lead into the fourth quarter before Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers capitalized on an injury to cornerback Chris Harris Jr. to stage a comeback reminiscent of Baltimore's shocking win 38-35 win in double overtime at Denver.

On that night, Jacoby Jones hauled in a 70-yard pass from Joe Flacco to tie it and Denver head coach John Fox had Manning take a knee so the Broncos could regroup in overtime.

This time, Manning rescued the Broncos from the brink of another collapse and sent them into the title game for the first time in eight seasons.

They'll host the New England Patriots (13-4) on Sunday. Get ready for Brady against Manning once more.

In the most recent matchup of QBs with Hall of Fame credentials, Tom Brady and the Patriots rallied past Manning and the visiting Broncos 34-31 in overtime Nov. 24.

"That's two of the greats," Eric Decker said. "It's going to be talked about a lot throughout the week."

"It's the Broncos versus the Patriots and certainly Tom and I have played against each other a lot," Manning said. "But when you get to the AFC championship, it's about two good teams that have been through a lot to get there."

The Chargers regretted not trying another onside kick after Manning converted a 20-yard pass to Julius Thomas on 3rd-and-17 from his 20-yard line, the first of three third-down conversions on the Broncos' final possession.

In their playoff loss last year, they couldn't salt away a fourth-quarter lead, in no small part because of curious calls and inexact execution.

"I felt like that game last year forced us to address those types of situations all season long," Manning said. "We've worked on it in training camp, we've worked on it in the season. ... It was nice that all that hard work paid off for us."

San Diego head coach Mike McCoy, who was Denver's offensive coordinator a year ago, was downcast in Denver once again, and so was Rivers, who had led his team to five straight do-or-die wins.

"If we got it one more time, I believe deep down we would've tied that" game, Rivers said. "But we didn't. Those are all a bunch of what-ifs."

Manning ended a personal three-game postseason skid in winning for the first time since leading Indianapolis over the Jets 30-17 in the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 24, 2010.

With the score 24-7 Broncos, former Cal receiver Keenan Allen hauled in a 49-yard catch with Quentin Jammer in coverage on 4th-and-5 from the San Diego 25 with seven minutes left. That led to his second TD - both from 16 yards - that pulled the Chargers to 24-14 with 5:43 left.

"We got those two touchdowns in the second half, but it's unfortunate we didn't get started earlier," said Allen, who finished with 142 yards on six catches.